Anti-Muslimhttp://blog.pfaw.org/
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:30:32 -0500Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:06:13 -0500Fox News' Top Five Islamophobic Smearshttp://blog.pfaw.org/content/fox-news-top-five-islamophobic-smears
<p>Sean Hannity last night was clearly upset that Rep. Keith Ellison <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/dem-congressman-gets-thrown-off-after-calling-hannity-a-liar-immoral-you-say-things-that-arent-true/">exposed him</a> for what he is &mdash; a partisan hack &mdash; and he is now <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/02/28/1655581/sean-hannity-launches-islamophobic-attack-against-keith-ellison/"> launching attacks on the congressman </a> by recycling statements Ellison made in the 1990s about the Nation of Islam, a group that the congressman later vociferously denounced. He even <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hannity-unloads-on-rep-keith-ellison-rips-radical-connections-to-nation-of-islam/">wondered</a> if &ldquo;we have somebody then in Congress that is the equivalent of one side of what the Klan is?&rdquo;</p>
<p align="center"><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="248" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://videos.mediaite.com/embed/player/?content=T9VMDN0KS9S1NSZG&content_type=content_item&layout=&playlist_cid=&media_type=video&widget_type_cid=svp&read_more=1" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p>Hannity has <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2006/12/01/hannity-suggested-use-of-quran-in-representativ/137441">attacked Ellison</a> over his faith in the past, arguing that Ellison&rsquo;s use of Thomas Jefferson&rsquo;s copy of the Quran during his symbolic swearing-in ceremony &ldquo;will embolden Islamic extremists&rdquo; and is no different from a congressman using &ldquo;Hitler&rsquo;s Mein Kampf, which is the Nazi bible.&rdquo;</p>
<p>While the use of inflammatory language and false claims is <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/02/28/10-examples-of-sean-hannity-saying-things-that/192828">nothing new for Sean Hannity</a>, we decided to use the segment as an opportunity to highlight the five Islamophobic smears regularly found on Fox News.</p>
<p><strong>1. </strong> <strong>Obama is a Secret Muslim</strong>:</p>
<p>Fox News host Eric Bolling <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-eric-bolling-clarifies-after-saying-obama-admin-answers-to-quran-first-and-constitution-second/">claimed</a> that Obama &ldquo;answers to the Quran first and to the Constitution second&rdquo; and Hannity himself <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/03/24/hannity-continues-week-long-campaign-to-legitim/177937">alleged</a> that Obama &ldquo;went to a Muslim school.&rdquo; Regular contributors like <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525126,00.html">Charles Krauthammer</a> and <a href="http://nation.foxnews.com/donald-trump/2011/03/30/trump-obama-maybe-hes-muslim">Donald Trump</a> have also floated the claim that Obama was raised as a Muslim and back in 2007, Fox News <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/media/2007/01/19/9711/fox-obama-madrassa/">ran with</a> the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/">discredited story</a> that Obama was a student an Islamic &ldquo;madrassa&rdquo; in Indonesia.</p>
<p><strong>2. </strong> <strong>Park 51 Will be used for Terrorism</strong>:</p>
<p>Dick Morris, who just recently was booted from the network following his hilariously bad election predictions, said that the Park 51 Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero is planning to &ldquo;<a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2011/08/30/dick-morris-returns-to-vicious-park51-smear-it/181618">train the same kind of terrorists</a>&rdquo; that attacked the U.S. on 9/11, warning the building will be a &ldquo;<a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/08/18/morris-park51-would-be-a-command-center-for-ter/169470">command center for terrorism</a>.&rdquo; Bolling <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/08/02/bolling-the-people-who-flew-planes-into-the-bui/183841">alleged</a> that Park 51 is being built to represent &ldquo;the people who flew planes&rdquo; into the Twin Towers and Bill O&rsquo;Reilly <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/10/20/oreilly-calls-proposed-park51-housing-condos-fo/181696">warned</a> the project is housing &ldquo;condos for Al Qaeda.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>3. </strong> <strong>Al Jazeera Conspiracies</strong>:</p>
<p>Fox News contributor Lisa Daftari <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-contributor-suggests-al-jazeeras-american-expansion-could-activate-muslim-sleeper-cells/">warned</a> that Al Jazeera&rsquo;s acquisition of Current TV will activate terrorist &ldquo;sleeper cells&rdquo; in Detroit and regular Fox guest Michelle Malkin <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/michelle-malkin-al-jazeera-a-trojan-horse-for-terror-responsible-for-the-loss-of-american-lives/">called</a> the channel &ldquo;a cheerleader for terror&rdquo; and &ldquo;a Trojan Horse for terror TV.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>4. </strong> <strong>Sharia law a-comin&rsquo;</strong>:</p>
<p>Regular Fox News viewers may be under the impression that&nbsp;<a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/09/14/fox-hosts-pamela-geller-to-claim-obama-is-submi/189891">President Obama</a>, <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hide-your-bibles-hide-your-kids-because-muslims-are-coming-or-so-suggests-fox-news-todd-starnes/">public schools</a> and <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/jon-stewart-mocks-fox-news-concern-with-muslims-and-their-mosques/">NASA</a> seek to impose&nbsp;<a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/04/01/beck-guest-holton-sharia-is-the-biggest-threat/178232">Sharia law</a>. The network also recently <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-fox-news-hires-herman-cain-20130215,0,6217947.story">hired</a> Herman Cain as a contributor, who insisted that Muslims should be <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/26/153625/herman-cain-muslims/">prohibited</a> from serving in high levels of government and that localities have a right to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/herman-cain-strives-for-new-levels-of-anti-muslim-buffoonery/2011/03/04/gIQAJ7WpLI_blog.html"> ban mosques </a> because Muslims seek to introduce Sharia law, warnings Hannity <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/04/06/hannity-uses-segment-on-cains-plan-to-keep-musl/178423">readily endorsed</a>.</p>
<p><strong>5. </strong> <strong>&lsquo;All Terrorists are Muslims&rsquo;</strong>:</p>
<p>Brian Kilmeade of <em>Fox & Friends</em> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/15/brian-kilmeade-all-terror_n_764472.html">claimed</a> that &ldquo;not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims&rdquo; and Bill O&rsquo;Reilly has implied that&nbsp;<a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2010/10/25/oreilly-claims-the-muslim-threat-is-real/172428">all Muslims</a> were&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20019660-10391698.html">responsible for 9/11</a>. Fox News regularly <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2011/03/14/mideast-expert-fox-news-panders-to-muslim-bashe/177543">hosts</a> anti-Muslim guests such as Brigitte Gabriel, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. In fact, Fox News host&nbsp;<a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2011/07/23/fox-juxtaposes-norwegian-terrorist-attack-nyc-i/183060">Laura Ingraham</a> and contributor <a href="http://mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2011/07/25/18704/fnc-americalive-20110722-norway">John Bolton</a> prematurely blamed the far-right terrorist attack in Norway on government offices and a left-wing party youth summit on Muslims.</p>
Brian TashmanAnti-MuslimC4IslamKeith EllisonSean Hannity fox newsFox News Channel Fighting the Right42341Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:30:32 -0500Anti-Muslim